City of London pilots national fraud project

The City of London Police will pilot a national fraud project which will enable banks to report e-crime.

The force, which covers the capital's financial Square Mile and several hundred international banks, is taking the lead in setting up a national fraud reporting centre.

A spokesperson for the force told GC News that it is currently carrying out "proof of concept trials".

"As lead force for fraud, what we are going to provide is a system to enable members of the public to report fraud and organisations such as the big banks," she said.

The national fraud reporting centre will help tackle a range of offences, including online crimes, including credit card theft, phishing and hacking.

The pilot comes after the National High Tech Crime Unit, set up in April 2001 in response to fears about an increase in online crime, was absorbed into the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). However, SOCA has been criticised for failing to tackle e-crime as part of its remit.

"We are testing different models and cannot yet give details of what is involved," said the City of London Police spokesperson. "But we are aiming for that system to be up and running by summer 2009."